Monday, April 4, 2011

Industrialization of the World’s Forests (Yes, Wiz related...)

Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forested areas. The main sources of deforestation in the Amazon are human settlement and development of the land. Prior to the early 1960s, access to the forest's interior was highly restricted, and the forest remained basically intact. Deforestation is considerable, and areas cleared of forest are visible to the naked eye from outer space.

As we all know, the market for industry in the world is growing exponentially. But think about this: how many of us stop to think, ‘Hey, wait… What about the creatures that live in the forests?’

Sure, humans are the dominant race here on earth. We kill animals for food and/or pleasure, or capture them, train them, put them in zoos for people to see. Though I love the zoo, do these animals really deserve to be locked up in cages? Do we have any right to take them off the land which they inhabit? And what exactly is it that we do with that land which once belonged to hundreds of species of animals?

We raise cattle.

Between 1991 and 2000, the total area of forest lost in the Amazon rose from 160,000 to 227,000 square miles, with most of the lost forest becoming pasture for cattle. Seventy percent of formerly forested land in the Amazon, and 91% of land deforested since 1970, is used for livestock pasture.

We build highways.

Brazil is currently the second-largest global producer of soybeans after the United States. The needs of soy farmers have been used to validate many of the controversial transportation projects that are currently developing in the Amazon. The first two highways successfully opened up the rain forest and led to increased settlement and deforestation.

Deforestation has declined significantly in the Brazilian Amazon since 2004, thank goodness.

(Statistics found on Wikipedia… yeah, I know… so reputable.)

So, here’s the Wizard-relation to my whole rant above. My arena was built to symbolize the industrialization and tearing down of the world’s forests, especially the Amazon rainforest. Miles and miles of trees, ferns, flowers, have been torn down to make room for the people of the world. My lion friend, Amoris (‘love’ in Latin), and I are here to show you what I did to my arena.

Here’s a better picture where we're in front of the arena:

Behind us, you will see the arena circle surrounded by trees, statues of wizard creatures, and a thick, grey line at the back wall. We’ll get to that in a moment. The statues are poised to fight the ones who have come to tear down their forest. As you can see, Mr. Triton isn’t too happy…

Neither are Cyclops and Kitty. You can see here they are starting to get into a fight over what is best for the forest. Kitty seems very adamant in the forest staying the way it is, but Cyclops, with hammer in hand, seems rather reluctant to go against the humans.

“Oh, come now, Cyclops, what did us creatures do to have you betray our trust?” *turns up nose*

Now, here’s an opposite view of the arena:

I am standing on a metal platform that was laid out up on the wall. The industrialization has already begun, and the creatures are ready to fight for their land. On the far end, Ambrose watches over the arena, hoping the creatures will succeed in their efforts to turn away the machines. They’ve already begun tearing down the trees in the yard behind the house…

But never the less, the creatures are standing tall and are definitely ready to fight, led by none other than a Celestial warrior, poised and ready to meet the machines.

I’m surprised he didn’t try to cut MY head off.

“I come in peace!”

So there you have it, a long post about the new look of my arena.

Thanks to my wonderful companion John Lifeglen for helping me float the metal platform in the back, and my dear Kevin Battleblood for putting up with the tree I just could NOT get to place correctly.

5 comments:

Wow!! You were right -- I DO like this a lot! Very inspiring set up with where Ambrose is versus the metal platforms! Interesting contrast against my March MFP, which shows the appreciation of man's influence on nature; yours shows the effects of a flood of such influence :)

I need to revisit and take a picture from that standpoint, for Fine Art post #2. Great work!

Very nice! one question though. On the second to last pic, there are three trees taller than the rest. Now I know those are called the large willow trees. But the middle one looks darker, and larger than the other two. Are the other two also large willow trees, or are they something else (like a small willow tree)?